Oh man, you know sometimes I get the craziest ideas. This morning was nuts. I took my son to the pediatrician after getting all 3 kids out the door in 15 minutes. We had to hit the walk in hours for his very dramatic sore throat so that they wouldn’t be too late to school. After a thumbs up from the ped and a quick drop off at school, we hit up 3 other errands in like 30 minutes. It was one of those mornings that literally felt like a whirlwind and when those happen, I escape into my own head. I think we can call it a coping mechanism (digging into my bachelor’s psych degree lingo) or we can call it cheap therapy. Whatever you call it, this is where lots of my “culinary tales” begin.
Like I’ve said before regarding buns, I usually don’t miss it. I usually am more than happy to eat my burger with other fixins and barely notice that the bread is gone. Fries are different. Don’t touch my fries. We’ll talk more about that later.
I had the idea that I could make a paleo onion ring bun for my burger, in those times when I want to switch up my burger presentation. I started imagining that instead of making actual rings, you could cut the whole onion in very thin slices and use all of the rings, still held together, batter, and fry them. The result is a giant onion ring, or circle, or something of that nature and it is delicious. You can pick it up like a burger with your hands or if that gets a little sloppy you can use a fork and knife. Any way you slice it (get it?), this is a burger worth noshing on!
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup cassava flour
- 1/4 cup tapioca flour
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon 100% maple syrup
- 1/2 cup sparkling water
- 1 tablespoon coconut flour
- 1/2 teaspoon-1 teaspoon garlic sea salt
- 1 large Vidalia onion (You could also use eggplant here instead)
- Avocado oil, Coconut oil, Lard or preferred fat for frying
- Cook your burgers and prepare your “fixins” prior to frying onions. The onion ring buns are best served hot and crispy or can become soggy if sitting too long.
- Combine all of the ingredients, excluding the onion, in a small mixing bowl
- Stir well to combine; the batter should be a thick liquid, not too runny, so it can stick to the onion; I’d compare the consistency to pancake batter.
- Now using a mandolin or knife, CAREFULLY peel and slice the onion so that the rings are kept intact. See photo below for how the onion should be sliced.
- Preheat oil over high heat for frying. I used a small saucepan and filled the oil up about an inch up the sides so that my rings could be completely submerged in the oil (like a deep fryer, but less, um, deep)
- Carefully coat one entire onion slice in the batter on both sides and use a slotted spoon to carefully transfer it to the preheated oil. Make sure your oil is hot enough before attempting to fry or the batter will slide off into the pan.
- Fry on both sides until very crispy (5 minutes or less) and use a slotted spoon to remove from oil. Place on towel lined plate.
- To make burger sauce as seen in photos below, mix high quality ketchup and mayo (or homemade versions) in equal parts. Jazz it up a smidge by adding a tiny splash of Worcestershire or coconut aminos and some extra garlic powder!
- NOTE: The thinner you are able to slice these the better!
- NOTE: If you cannot obtain cassava flour you can make these with an alternative batter (there are almond flour based paleo onion ring recipes online). You can also do an egg wash and dredge in tapioca only though the batter will not be quite as thick, they will still fry well.
- NOTE: You can also play around with your own favorite flour blends as many will work well!
Whoa! This looks amazing! I can’t wait to try it. Thanks for sharing this awesome recipe! Pinned it.
Thanks Emily!!
That looks amazing! I will DEFINITELY be trying this soon. And may I ask, what is that glorious looking sauce oozing down the side? Thanks!
-Bridget
Ketchup + Mayo!!!
Excellent, thank you! That’s a favorite combo of mine, but I always think of it as a humble condiment. Looks much more sophisticated here. 😉
Seriously…you are a genius! I cannot wait to make these!
Oh gosh, thanks!
Hi! and thanks. they look so yummy. But can you tell me the reason for the maple syrup? What does it do for the recipe besides add a bit of sweet? Thanks again.
It doesn’t actually make them sweet, it just makes them more palatable. You can omit if need be but it might change the flavor.
What would you recommend to replace the maple syrup. Can’t have that yet. This sounds delicious. Thank you.
Hmmm, I guess a sugar free sweetener would work or you could try omitting
Now *that* is a worthy bun replacement!
Well thank you kindly!
Question, does cassava flour go by another name? I can’t seem to find it in Canada!
Either yuca or cassava flour. There is a company carrying Otto’s flour that will deliver to Canada, message Otto’s to inquire!!
Bun who? I’d take this over a bun any day! I’ll report back when I try out the recipe after I get my hands on Cassava flour…not so easy to come by in Canada but I haven’t given up hope!
Just saw your comment above about cassava flour in Canada. I have checked Otto’s site, but on their site it is not an option to have your flour sent to Canada (only the US). When I contacted them a few weeks ago they told me that they would select and online retailer to ship to Canada.
Angela, you could also use some almond flour if you tolerate nuts. There is one source Otto’s is using for Canada I believe, but almond flour or potato starch/tapioca blend could work as well!
This is just brilliant! I can’t wait to make these for my husband.
Enjoy!!!
So silly question. I love onions, however, they do not love me. I can eat them if they have been cooked for a long time. Some fried onion rings I can eat but most I can not. So in this LONG explanation/question. How throughly cooked is the onion? I so want to eat this!! Hope I made some since.
What a super fun and delicious idea, Jennifer! I love onions. Can’t wait to try this when I’m in a mood for a bun. 😉
xo,
Shirley
Thanks Shirley!!!! xoxo
Yum!! Can I use just regular water or does the sparkling water do something specific?
I think regular water should work!
Hey Jen
What is a vidalia onion? I can only get white, brown or Spanish (red).
thanks!
Hey Allison, A vidalia is a sweet onion but really any onion should work!!!
Aren’t cassava flour and tapioca flour the same thing? That’s what a lot of websites say…
Hi DJ, they both come from yuca/cassava root but tapioca is just the starch and cassava flour is the whole root dried/ground. Think of it like potato starch and potato flour. Same source, different properties!
This looks delicious…thanks for including info on option without cassava flour ….as I cannot tolerate that or tapioca.
I will definitely try with substitute flours…
Enjoy!!!
Could these be baked? I hate frying I am always petrified of hot oil torture splatters…I’m gonna give it a try I think
You can try but add less water to the batter or it will likely slide off before it bakes. You’ll want the batter to be thicker to stick
I can’t have eggs, can I substitute gelatin?
I am not sure if gelatin would work. You might just try omitting the egg altogether.
Omg I just made these and they were sooooo good! And way easier than I thought! I do have a question though. Can the batter be stored in the refrigerator until the following day to use again? I’m making these again tomorrow and I have a lot of batter left!
Yes, batter can be stored!